PUBLIC transporter Rimbi Tours has taken government to court seeking to reverse the suspension of its operating licence while its counterpart Zebra Kiss has been allowed to resume operations after pledging to observe road traffic rules.
Government last week suspended the licences for both Rimbi and Zebra Kiss bus companies following an accident that killed one person along the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway as the bus drivers raced for passengers.
Yesterday, government lifted the suspension for Zebra Kiss saying it had undertaken necessary remedies to avoid future incidents.
“The bus company known as Rimbi Tours decided to approach the administrative courts and it’s within their rights. But the question that I raise was; for us, it was a suspension —we were not revoking the licence and our terms and what we highlighted on the suspension, the issues were very clear,” Transport minister Felix Mhona told a Traffic Safety Council indaba yesterday.
“It was a matter of compliance, checking, realigning and also we thought maybe since this was something which was a major concern to the public, we were supposed to move with speed and try to align. The good thing about a suspension is it can be 24 hours or 48 hours but the assumption from the ministry was that the operator would sit and reason together with the ministry, but they have decided to approach the courts.”
The accident claimed the life of a Rimbi bus conductor who was recording the bus racing video which later went viral.
Mhona said Zebra Kiss had accepted responsibility and approached the ministry in order to take corrective measures.
“The lifting of the suspension follows the submission of comprehensive measures that have been put in place by Tashllyt Investments (proprietours of Zebra Kiss buses) to avert such incidents in the future. After a meticulous consideration of the submission, the ministry is satisfied that the measures that have been mainstreamed by the operator are adequate to checkmate recurrence of operational behaviours which can be interpreted as violations of terms and conditions of the licence,” Mhona said.
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“The ministry will continue to enforce and monitor compliance with the terms and conditions of all operators’ licences, including measures against reckless and negligent driving.”
